ABSTRACT
Over the past 20 years the proportion of development cooperation resources earmarked for agricultural development has dwindled to between 6 and 7 per cent of total bi- and multilateral ODA. Although the proportion devoted to rural areas is two to three times higher, it is still completely inadequate in view of the spatial distribution of poverty. This increasingly raises doubts about how well targeted the allocation of resources is, for the overriding objective of bi- and multilateral development cooperation is poverty reduction and 75 to 85 per cent of the poor live in rural areas of the recipient countries. Recent empirical literature clearly shows, moreover, that agricultural and rural development is the only way to come close to the goal of halving poverty by 2015. The resources that can realistically be expected will not suffice for the poor to be productively accommodated in urban areas.
